In brief

The Centre of Excellence (CoE), Dark Side of the Universe, combines competence in theoretical and experimental particle physics, cosmology and high-performance computing to carry out systematic interdisciplinary research on Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Inflation, gravity and interplay between those physical phenomena. The central question is: how are the two sectors, the visible Universe and the dark Universe, connected besides by gravity? The aim is to build new merging models involving Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Inflation and gravity. The models should yield predictive frameworks allowing for tests of the models at colliders (LHC), in direct detection experiments (XENONnT, LUX and the future SuperCDMS and Darwin), indirect detection experiments (Fermi, AMS2, HESS, HAWC, IceCube and future CTA, SKA) and in cosmological observations (by Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra, SDSS, BOSS, future Gaia, DESI, Euclid). This research involves participation in different international collaborations: LHC CMS at CERN, Planck mission of ESA, EGI and WLCG.

CoE develops Grid and Cloud computing technology in collaboration with local IT-companies. The CoE members teach and supervise PhD and MSc students in the University of Tartu, organize summer schools and train high-school physics teachers at CERN, and promote science via popularization in written and electronic media.